


Down by the River

by addledwalrus



Category: Original Work
Genre: 1950s, Airplanes, Bicycles, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Brother-Sister Relationships, Brothers, Childhood Trauma, Children, Discipline, Dreams, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Fatherhood, Gen, Gender Roles, Historical, Historical References, Innocence, Insults, Irony, Korean Characters, Little Brothers, Little Sisters, Newspapers, Optimism, Post-War, Rivers, Sharing a Room, Sibling Rivalry, Siblings, Teenage Rebellion, Teenagers, Wishful Thinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-22 05:50:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17657114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/addledwalrus/pseuds/addledwalrus
Summary: Seoul, 1950. A family of seven go about their evening prior to the outbreak of the Korean War.





	Down by the River

**23 June 1950**

Baek Jeong-nam dismounted his bicycle upon returning to the four room house that he shared with his elderly parents, wife and three children.

The youngest, Ki-jung, was the first to greet him and such was the nine-year old's excitement that he had to resist smacking them in the face with his newspaper.

"Dad, Dad! Where's the ice cream you promised me?!" Ki-jung exclaimed, jumping up and down. "I've been a good student this year!"

Jeong-nam took a deep breath before placing a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Dad was very busy today and forgot. But he will get you one tomorrow, rest assured..."

Ki-jung simply frowned and crossed both arms.

"You said that yesterday, Dad."

"Well I mean it this time. Where's your brother and sister?"

"Young-ja is in the kitchen with Mom and Grandmother. Young-sik has gone to the river again..."

"To the river?" Jeong-nam asked in disbelief while accompanying Ki-jung inside. "For what?"

"I don't know, but I think he has a  _girlfriend_ ~" Ki-jung replied, then broke into a giggle that only made Jeong-nam feel even more uneasy. It was clear that his oldest child was due for a good scolding, though he knew it would only work for a week or so.

Fourteen-year-old Young-ja was helping with dinner just as Ki-jung had claimed. He spent a moment smiling in pride at his daughter's diligence, before his wife Myung-sook approached to make a request.

"Honey, don't just stand there. Your father shouldn't have to work all alone out back."

"Why didn't you ask our son?"

"I tried, but he was out the door like a bolt of lightning..."

Jeong-nam shook his head with a sigh.

"That boy gets stubborner each day. You shouldn't be afraid of smacking him once in a while. It doesn't matter that he's sixteen..."

"I would, but he's strong. He could fight back if I lay a hand on him..."

"Fine. I guess it will have to be me again."

"Thank you, honey."

Myung-sook went back her duties and Jeong-nam turned to look down at Ki-jung.

"Come, let's go check on your grandpa and help him out..."

"Okay..." Ki-jung agreed reluctantly.

* * *

Young-sik had headed to the river to cool off after spending the day polishing shoes for countless people. He could make out the Han River Bridge in the distance from where he stood and wondered yet again about what lay beyond it.

He knew that his grandparents had moved to Seoul from the countryside during the early days of the Japanese occupation that had ended just five years earlier. Most of the stories they told suggested that it was far from a peaceful time back then and he guessed it was for that reason many adults were so tense these days.

At his age however, he felt that it was more beneficial to be optimistic and as such, hoped that the current division of the country would soon be resolved peacefully.

The chirping of cicadas alerted him to the fact that he needed to return home soon. He trudged carefully back to land to dry off and retrieve his pants before breaking into a sprint.

He knew that his parents never liked it when he wandered off, but he couldn't help it when spending time alone always gave him peace and a chance to recover from the day's events.

His younger sister Young-ja came out of the house just as he entered the narrow street where their house was located. She stopped upon noticing him and wrinkled her nose to show disapproval.

"There you are. Mom and Dad are really disappointed; you know..." She muttered impatiently while he approached.

"I'm sorry, sis. I got held up again."

"By what? A traffic accident?"

"Shut up. Just don't make things worse for me, please?"

He pushed past Young-ja before she could say anything further. She gave a sigh of irritation and followed him inside, knowing that revenge would likely have to wait until another day.

* * *

"So, what does it say in that article?" Myung-sook asked her husband anxiously as she focused on the newspaper page and ignored his parents whom sat opposite them at the table.

"It...it says..." Jeong-nam began, squinting his eyes and trying to decipher the words with his limited reading ability. "President Rhee hopes to conquer the North. The Americans say that it is unlikely for the People's Army to invade. We have nothing to fear..."

Myung-sook exhaled in relief. She raised her head to look at the other three adults again before recounting an event from her childhood.

"I... I am grateful to be here with you all tonight. I remember when I was ten, the Japanese took a group of men out of the village and left them in an open grave for us to see..."

"Myung-sook, you shouldn't dwell on such things. It's all in the past now and we can only move forward now as a nation. Isn't that right, mother and father?"

They both nodded and Jeong-nam turned back to his wife with a smile.

"It's getting late. We should get some sleep, lest we be tired tomorrow..."

She nodded and they all rose to begin preparing for bed. The open newspaper was left lying on the table and as Myung-sook filled a bucket with cold water, a loud roar from outside caught her attention.

* * *

"I can't stand this anymore." Young-ja complained in disgust as she forced herself to sit up. "I have to be near the window. You both have such stinky feet..."

"Hey!" Ki-jung protested while rolling over and drawing a chuckle from Young-sik. "I don't stink. You stink!"

"Do you want me to hit you?"

"No..."

"Then say that I smell nicer..."

"No."

Young-ja realized that it was unbecoming to argue with Ki-jung at her age, so she got to her feet without another word and stepped over Young-sik to reach the window. He then shifted closer to the middle of the room to allow her room, like the good brother he wanted to be.

It was mere moments after she lay back down that a deafening noise prompted all three of them to sit back up in unison.

"What was that?" Young-ja whispered warily. "It sounds like a plane..."

She allowed her brothers to come close this time and together, they poked their heads out of the open window just in time to see what was in the sky.

"It has to be an American one." Young-sik inferred. "We don't have any good pilots..."

"Where do you think it's going?" Ki-jung asked, craning his neck to get a better look as the plane left his sight.

"I don't know. Maybe to the North?"

"To do what?"

Young-sik didn't want to think that the plane was in fact heading somewhere to drop bombs on unsuspecting people, so he dismissed Ki-jung's question before lying back down.

"There's no way for us to know and even then, it has nothing to do with us. We've seen planes in the past, haven't we?"

Ki-jung pouted and clumsily crossed back to his original position while Young-ja remained where she was.

"Do you think we'll get to be on a plane one day, brother?"

Young-sik choked as a result of trying to suppress his laughter.

"Don't be an idiot. Only rich people can afford it..."


End file.
